Best boxing performance of all-time

Tokyo Douglas for me. To dominate a fight you're a 42-1 underdog in is unheard of. To physically abuse the bully who many thought might be in the GOAT conversation was surreal.

Ali-Foreman was similar, but Foreman did as much to beat himself as Ali did. Ali didn't dominate from the opening bell like Douglas did.

 

Tough choices. I narrowed my choices down to strength of competition and fights available on film. That means no Burley vs Moore (no film) and no Ali vs Williams (Williams was shot, figuratively and literally).

It came down to Leonard vs Duran 1 or Frazier vs Ali 1 for me. Very tough, but Frazier spending a month in the hospital in a winning effort tipped the scales for me enough for the edge.

If I had to choose a 3rd place it would be Hopkins in his late 30s schooling an atg fighter in Trinidad.

In regard to the others:

In retrospect the sharp drop off in defense by Tyson after he left Rooney meant he was not as invincible as people thought.

Hearns broke his hand in the first round.

Ali was amazing in Zaire, but this victory was also due to exploiting Foreman's stamina issues at that time. Still, this is 4th for me as Ali was past prime and used his will and psychology to complement his skill.

The Pacquiao victory would probably be my 5th pick.

Frazier was never the same after the FOTC and his style was a horrible matchup against an ATG slugger at his peak in Foreman.

 

It's got to be Leonard vs Duran in Montreal
or Ali vs Frazier FOTC. When considering
both fighters being in their primes or very
close to it and
their overall accomplishments ,
the evenness of the fights,
and the length of the fights with
both being 15rd brawls.....
if I had to make a choice???
Duran's performance in Montreal
is the singular greatest performance
in boxing history, when considering
the caliber of the competition faced, him
being seen as the naturally smaller
less athletic fighter.
But I'd have no argument if someone favors
Frazier vs Ali FOTC.

 

Corrales v Castillo

Ruiz v Joshua

 

Aside from the lack of film, you could have gone with Burley-Moore. Moore himself described it as the only time he was ever genuinely outboxed.

https://ibb.co/rHzTdLH

 

Probably Duran.
He moved up one division to beat the #2 WW of all time. And though what Frazier did was astronomical, Ali was a little rusty and Frazier didn’t go through the hassles of moving up weight like Duran did. But aside from that, a 29 years old Ali is still Ali. What he did was absolutely amazing, no lie.

 

Frazier vs Ali 1

The most significant, best fight that applied to boxing and pop culture and history. Both fighters being mostly peak, Ali coming off a layoff but looked damn good and tagged Frazier a lot. A unification bout for the real deal title. Awesome fight.

The rest of my top 5:
Louis vs Schmeling 2
Hearns vs Duran
Ali vs Foreman
Duran vs. Leonard 1

Just missing the cut would be Douglas vs. Tyson

And as far as significant for the sport I think Foreman beating Moorer was a big, big deal. Just crazy.

Other honorable mentions I like a lot
Bowe vs. Holyfield I, I feel like people didn't see Bowe winning a war on the inside vs Holyfield at all. Bowe shortened up his punches, relied on the uppercuts, he let Evander have it that night.
FMJ vs. Corrales: masterpiece. Pure class.
JMM vs. Pacman 4: brutal and shocking end to a great fight between great fighters

 

Schmeling vs Louis 1

 

it is hard to say. Ali fighting differently to beat Foreman is up there. Hagler against Hearns coming in and fighting that way and taking punches to land. There are so many..

 

One fight I was very impressed with at the time was Spinks vs. Holmes. I thought Michael really showed a lot and Larry was asking for him.. To me that fight was special and put Michael up there in the elite level permanently.

 

Hi Buddy.
Loath as I am to correct a poster as learned as yourself, but they did in fact fight , the year was 1944 and Burley won a 10 round decision and put Moore down no less than 4 times ! Archie " that Burley he was some fighter, slick as lard, and twice as greasy " of all the great fighters Archie fought, he had a high regard for Burley and Curtis Shepperd.
stay safe hombre, chat soon.

 

I will add Muhammad Ali vs Sonny Liston I, boxing masterclass. Also, Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks. Nobody expected that kind of a slaughter, even tho Tyson was a favorite. How about Sugar Ray Leonard vs Tommy Hearns I? Good candidate too.

 

IMO, Armstrong-Ross is the GOAT boxing performance.

Out of all the poll options, Foreman-Frazier is the one that's most shocking to me. Seeing someone like Frazier get lifted off his feet w/ an uppercut still blows my mind to this day.

 

Foreman/Frazier I.

That **** was as close to a flawless victory as you can get................